Rep. Adam Smith’s opposition to the “Far-Left”

In a series of interviews, videos, and articles, Rep. Adam Smith has criticized what he calls “the far-left,” “the extreme left,” “radical identity politics,” “left-wing facsists”, “the new left”, and “left-wing totalitarianism.”

This is discussed in a March 19th Seattle Times article Rep. Adam Smith says leftist Seattle is part of what ails Democrats and in the New Yorker article The Not-Quite Anti-Woke Caucus.

Sounding sometimes like a MAGA Republican, Rep. Smith (no relation)  says that Democrats are losing elections because swing voters are scared and offended by identity politics and by some of the allegedly extreme policies and language of the left:  defund the police, Black Lives Matter, open borders, homeless encampments, pronoun policing, victimhood, anti-capitalism, gender fluidity, and anti-Americanism for foreign policy.

In the New Yorker article, Smith is quoted as saying. “The new left is a very concerted and well-organized effort around a series of policies that have utterly and completely failed. Trying to fix it and get people to pay attention to it has been difficult.”   Smith criticizes a King County service provider which wants to undo “the culture of white supremacy, colonialism, cis-hetero-patriarchy, and all other forms of oppression.”  Smith is allied with conservative cultural warrior Christopher Rufo, who is one of the main instigators of the GOP attack on wokeism, DEI, and Critical Race Theory.  But Smith does acknowledge that racism, misogyny, and lack of opportunity are real. And Smith has been strongly opposing Trump and MAGA.

Smith’s accusations that progressive policies lead to bad outcomes for crime, homelessness, and drug use is unsubstantiated. He accuses Democratically-run cities and counties of having a basic lack of competent governance.  And he gave some examples in King County (workers who are hired because of their identity, not because of their skill; and workers left unsupervised.)  But is bad governance true in general for progressive districts?  By many measures the West Coast is thriving.   Drug addiction and homelessness are extremely difficult and expensive problems to solve everywhere.  To a large extent they are due to economic inequality, the war on drugs (treating drug use as a crime), and identity-based discrimination.

The Pentagon is notorious for waste and fraud. It’s ironic and hypocritical for Rep. Smith to criticize waste and poor governance locally, when he as former chair of the House Armed Service Committee, along with his colleagues, allowed massive waste, secrecy and destructive militarism.

Smith’s anti-woke activism has prompted some King County Democratic activists to submit at least one resolution (to the 43rd LD organization) condemning Smith for aiding Rufo and for attacking progressive values. They point out that Smith endorsed a Republican for Seattle City Attorney (https://neighborsforann.com/endorsements). In past years, too, Smith has sometimes endorsed Republicans, even when progressives are running for the races (e.g. for Bellevue City Council).

In addition to criticizing the left’s wokeism, Smith is critical of antiwar activists who, he says, seem to hate America. He complains that the far left blame America for provoking wars and for being imperialistic. He thinks the far left needs to acknowledge all the good America has done:  laying the groundwork for a prosperous and democratic Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other nations  He acknowledges mistakes were made in the Cold War and the War on Terror.

To the extent that Democrats fight over identity, social and wedge issues, it’s a win for the plutocrats and militarists. It was the same with guns, gays, God, abortion, drugs, and rock music: Republicans win they can divide Americans on social issues.

The Left should emphasize fighting economic inequality and militarism more than they should fight on identity issues, which divide people.  In other words, follow Bernie Sanders’ lead and stay on-message about the 1% and economic inequality.

I am not saying to refrain from opposing racial, gender and other forms of identity-based oppression. I’m saying that it’s smart politics to emphasize class issues.

But ultimately, the Democrats and Left need to take back control of the narrative and stop letting conservatives set the terms of debate.  Conservatives seem able to demonize and ridicule Dems and progressives as being extremists, while Republicans are the ones who are more damaging to the country, with their fealty to the super-rich and their hostility to democracy.   For each alleged failing of the Left, there are ten worse failings of the Right that need to be condemned.

Given Rep. Smith’s centrism — his hostility towards progressive social issues and his strong support for military spending and overseas interventionism — it’s a surprise that he’s the representative in South Seattle.